Julia Ormond to Star in The El Escorial Conspiracy

For me, British actress Julia Ormond falls in the category of, “Really should be more famous”. And for a while there, it really did seem like she was going to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, with major roles opposite major movie star leading men in movies like “Legends of the Fall”, “First Knight”, and “Sabrina”. Then came “Smilla’s Sense of Snow”, which the critics really seemed to like, but no one else did. For a while there, Julia disappeared off the map (with one notable role in the WWII drama “Resistance”), and it’s only been recently that she’s decided to make a major comeback push, with roles in Hollywood stinkers “I Know Who Killed Me”, the critically acclaimed “Inland Empire”, and now, she’s scheduled “The El Escorial Conspiracy” as well as Steven Soderbergh’s “Guerrilla” for 2008.

More about “Escorial” from Variety:

“Escorial” is inspired by events that took place in Spain during the 16th century at the court of King Philip II. It turns on the devious political turfwars fought by conniving factions. A traitor to the king, Antonio Perez (Isaacs), and the Princess of Eboli (Ormond) played key roles in one these plots.

The shoot of the English and Spanish language project rolls from next Monday. The pic will lense on locations in Spain and Portugal for 12 weeks.

Cast also includes German actor Juergen Prochnow (”The Da Vinci Code”), Italian thesp Fabio Testi (”Torrente 3″) and Daniele Liotti (”Mad Love”), Portugal’s Joaquim de Almeida and Spanish actresses Juanjo Puigcorbe, Blanca Jara, Assumpta Serna, Pablo Puyol and Concha Cuetos.

Needless to say, this movie isn’t going to help Julia on her comeback trail, but the Soderbergh one might…